Venezuelan Prison Minister Announces Controversial Anti-Crowding Measure

The new Venezuelan Minister of Correctional Services, Iris Varela, has put a hold on the admission of inmates into prisons in the country, with the exception of "highly dangerous prisoners."  Varela, who made waves last week when she announced her ministry’s intentions to free 40 percent of Venezuela’s prison population, issued an order last Thursday suspending the admission of new inmates into prison by both the judicial branch and the country’s various police agencies until further notice, according to El Nacional. Varela claims the move is necessary in order to cut down on overcrowding in Venezuela’s prison system, noting that there are many inmates who have been imprisoned for "three years awaiting a hearing for minor offenses."

El Nuevo Herald reports that last week, Supreme Court president Luisa Estella Morales announced that 2,000 prisoners had been released so far by the government, all in cases where the inmates had been sentenced to prison terms under five years.

According to EFE, President Hugo Chavez has supported the policy, but requested that the minister lift the suspension in a month, remaining in place until “early September.” In the meantime, the president directed the minister to “coordinate alternatives with various centers and agencies” of the Venezuelan government.

So far it is not yet clear how the new directive will influence police work in the country, or what it will do to the country’s already soaring crime rate. El Universal cites anonymous police sources as being taken aback at the announcement, with one officer saying that they had been “put in a very difficult situation."

The Venezuelan murder rate stands at 48 per 100,000 people, making the country one of the most dangerous places in the world. With police and judges alike having been explicitly ordered not to send suspects to jail, criminal elements could be emboldened to take greater risks, which could potentially make the security situation in the country far worse than it already is.

Note: the above brief initially appeared at Insightcrime.org, the premier source of English language news and analysis related to organized criminal activity in the Americas.

News Briefs

·         Hugo Chavez is in Cuba once again for a second round of chemotherapy treatment. Still no updates on the exact nature of his cancer, or on the specifics of his prognosis.

·         The Mexican government has suspended $102 million in anti-crime grants to some of the most dangerous municipalities across the country because, according to AP, they “haven’t shown enough progress.” El Universal has more on the resulting outcry from local politicians.

·         Immigration from Mexico has fallen to almost nothing, according to the Mexican government’s National Statistics Institute.  Milenio reports that the Institute found that Mexico lost only 9 out of every 10,000 residents to migration last year, a figure which is six times lower than the migration rate in 2006.  In the first three months of this year, the figure has dropped to 5.8.  Considering that the percentage of those living in poverty rose to 46.2 percent during this period, I’d say the decrease is due more to security reasons than economic factors.

·         AP says a package bomb detonated in the offices of two Mexican professors at the Monterrey Technological Institute yesterday, injuring two professors. Excelsior has photos of the bomb, and reports that it is still unclear whether it was sent from a former student or criminal organization. The professors received second- and third-degree burns but are in stable condition.  

·         The AP reports that nine former soldiers in the Salvadoran army have turned themselves in to a military base in the country after a being indicted in Spain in the 1989 killings of six Jesuit priests.  According to the L.A. Times, the men have requested that the Salvadoran Supreme Court block their extradition, but it is unlikely that the court will do so. Officials are still searching for ten other suspects in the case.

·         After several appeals, Guatemala’s highest court has ruled that former first lady Sandra Torres is ineligible to participate in the country’s September elections.  According to the Prensa Libre, the Constitutional Court final ruling was unanimous, although three justices issued partially dissenting opinions to the decision. The ruling made no mention of whether Torres’ March divorce from current President Alvaro Colom constituted fraud, but did find that the move violated the constitution, which stipulates that family members of former heads of state cannot run for office.

·         According to Peru’s La Republica, President Humala called on the country’s armed forces yesterday to step up efforts against the Shining Path in the embattled Apruimac and Ene Valley region (VRAE). Humala announced that he plans on holding commanding officers in the army more accountable for casualties.

·         El Tiempo has published an interview with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos which recaps the first year of his administration. During the interview Santos paused and repeated the mantra of “Nopecu, nopecu, nopecu…” which apparently stands for “Don’t fight with Uribe” (No pelear con Uribe). The paper has also prepared this helpful graphic, which lists the top ten moments of his presidency thus far.  Meanwhile, Santos has announced a new strategy meant to address the deepening security crisis in the country, calling for increased intelligence sharing and smaller, more mobile army patrols.  BBC and Semana have more.

·         Colombia Reports claims that ten members of the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community in northern Colombia have been assassinated this year, and are under constant threat from paramilitary groups despite the community’s support from international human rights groups and members of the U.S. Congress. According to Revista Semana, 29 human rights defenders and community leaders have been killed in the country during the first half of 2011, and three more have been “disappeared.”

·         Chile’s student movement has called for a national referendum on their demand for free, quality education in the country. The students have rejected President Sebastian Pinera’s list of 21 proposed reforms, due to the fact that it will not require private educational institutions to invest their profits in educational improvements. AP cites student leader Giorgio Jackson as saying that the situation is becoming critical for students, as the 40 or so students on hunger strikes are weakening and many students now stand to lose a year’s worth of education because of the protests. The wire agency says that more than 900 protestors were arrested in last week’s mobilizations, and notes that a major march has been planned for today in Santiago. Meanwhile, El Ciudadano reports that the movement has called on former president Michelle Bachelet to take a stand on the issue.

·         Folha.com reports that Celso Amorim, Lula's ex-foreign minister, has been named Brazil's new defense minister after Nelson Jobim's sudden resignation last week.  AFP notes that Amorim is best known for his efforts to improve ties among developing nations in Latin America and helping to organize the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). In October 2009, Foreign Policy magazine called Amorim the "world's best foreign minister."

·         The head of Brazil's indigenous protection service is scheduled to make an emergency visit to a remote outpost in the Amazon amid fears that members of an isolated tribe may have been "massacred" by drug traffickers, The Guardian reports.

·         Latin American stocks plunged yesterday, amid fears that the U.S. and European debt crises would hamper growth in the region.  Reuters reports that the MSCI Latin America stock index plummeted by 5.52 percent, in its worst day in over a year. Brazilian, Mexican and Chilean stock indices all registered major losses.

Santos Marks One Year in Office With Soaring Approval Ratings

Now exactly one year after taking office, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is enjoying widespread support in his country, and his willingness to dialogue with other heads of state in South America even has some analysts talking about his potential as a “regional leader.”  In an interview with the Associated Press, Santos downplayed this title, saying that while he appreciated the compliment, he does not consider it an appropriate description.

Nonetheless, it is hard to see some of his administration’s efforts so far as anything but a newfound exertion of Colombia’s diplomatic muscle.  Last week Santos was in Mexico (where the Colombian armed forces have trained more than 5,000 soldiers in counternarcotics operations) in order to discuss security cooperation with his counterparts there, and this week Latin American finance ministers are meeting at his suggestion in a special UNASUR gathering in Buenos Aires to discuss regional approaches to the U.S. and European debt crises.

President Santos seems to be doing well at home as well. According to a recent Invamer Gallup opinion survey, support for Santos is at 71 percent. The poll also noted that 76 percent of Colombians voiced favorable opinions of the armed forces, which can be seen as an endorsement of Santos’ security policies as he attempts to grapple with a resilient guerrilla insurgency, armed bands of neo-paramilitaries and sophisticated drug trafficking networks in the country.

On top of this, the president faces virtually no mainstream political opposition. Even the party of his onetime electoral rival, the Green Party, has signed on to his governing coalition despite the protests of former presidential candidate Antanas Mockus.

Still, Santos faces a number of challenges in the future, the most notable of which is the recent uptick in FARC attacks. As noted in the July 29 brief, the number of rebels operations has increased dramatically in the past several months, with the FARC using non-uniformed urban militias and hit-and-run tactics to retake the initiative in certain parts of the country. So far the president has been reticent to recognize this development, and has repeatedly sought to downplay the FARC’s strength, especially as it pertains to the guerrillas’ use of neighboring Venezuela as a safe haven. When Admiral Edgar Cely, the commander of Colombia’s army, asserted last week that FARC and ELN rebels still operate in parts of Venezuela (a claim which was supported with firsthand accounts given to Caracol Radio by the director of a Venezuelan NGO), Santos denied this allegation, saying that his military chief was “mistaken and should not have said this.”

In the coming months, Santos will no doubt have to reassess his attempts at balancing diplomatic ties with Venezuela with counterinsurgency and anti-crime efforts, as more and more Colombians are expressing doubts about the security situation. This could be difficult, as a separate Gallup poll cited by El Espectador on June 30 found that nearly three quarters of Colombians believe that insecurity in the country is getting worse.

News Briefs

·         El Tiempo reports that Mockus has now officially announced his candidacy for mayor of Bogota as a member of the Independent Social Alliance Movement. Alfonso Prada, the Green Party spokesman in Colombia’s Chamber of Deputies, said it was "regrettable" that Mockus could not address his aspirations within his former party, and criticized him for causing "unnecessary damage" to those who supported him in the presidential campaign.

·         The opposition Coalition for Democratic Unity (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática – MUD) in Venezuela has sent a letter to House Republicans criticizing their recent vote in committee to defund the Organization of American States (OAS).  According to the Washington Post, in the letter the MUD said “international law and multilateral diplomatic action…are the only acceptable tools for the international community to support our democracy,” and claimed that the proposed bill would jeopardize the restoration of democratic rule of law in Venezuela. Of the measure’s most vehement supporters, only Connie Mack (R-FL) has so far responded to the criticism, saying he “believes that holding the OAS accountable for undermining democratic efforts in the region…is not only necessary, but beneficial to individuals working to obtain freedom through democracy.”  Exactly why Rep. Mack believes he knows better than the Venezuelans about what’s best for democracy in their country, however, remains unclear.

·         The New York Times takes a look at the deepening role of the U.S. in Mexico’s drug war, noting that Mexican President Felipe Calderon has jumped through a number of hoops in recent years to get around a law prohibiting foreign militaries from operating on Mexican soil.  As evidence, the article mentions a unit of “fewer than two dozen Drug Enforcement Administration agents, C.I.A. officials and retired military personnel members from the Pentagon’s Northern Command" working with Mexican officials in a joint intelligence center, but it is not clear whether this small team represents a major “game-changer” in terms of security cooperation.  More interesting is a prediction by Brookings Institute’s Vanda Felbab-Brown, who told the Times that she believes the Merida Initiative is bound to be a major political football in the upcoming election season. Felbab-Brown said she expects to see “a lot of questioning of Merida, and some people asking about the way the money is spent, or demanding that the government send it back to the gringos.”

·         Meanwhile, El Diario de El Paso reports that cities in southern Texas are seeing a population boom as residents in Mexican border cities flee northward to escape drug violence. Mission, Texas, is a favorite destination, and has gone from a city of 45,914 residents in 2000 to 68,196 in 2009.  Officials estimate that the figure has risen by some 6,000 since then, and expect that the number of residents will jump to 81,000 by 2014.

·         The Wall Street Journal reports that Mexican drug cartels are continuing to move into the methamphetamine trade as the drug becomes more popular in the U.S.  Mexican officials have uncovered 103 clandestine methamphetamine labs during the first six months of this year, which is a 25% increase from the same period last year.

·         An appellate court in Cuba has upheld a 15-year prison sentence for Alan Gross, the USAID contractor who was caught distributing satellite phones to members of the Jewish community on the island, reports the New York Times. While the ruling did not come as much of a surprise, it means that the U.S. will inevitably refocus its efforts towards pressuring the Cuban government for his release as a humanitarian gesture.

·         The L.A. Times is the most recent U.S. media outlet to report on the growth of the Cuban service industry in the wake of the recently-proposed economic reforms. The paper cites government statistics which claim that as of July 19, more than 325,900 Cubans had taken out licenses to operate or work at private businesses involving nearly 200 approved activities, including “hairstyling, carpentry, shoemaking and dance instruction.”

·         The Economist reports that Brazil has abolished a payroll tax on clothing, footwear, furniture and software manufacturers as part of a series of reforms to the country’s industrial policies which were recently announced by President Dilma Rousseff. The move will also be accompanied by anti-dumping measures, as Brazil struggles to keep its currency from heating up too quickly.

·         The Bolivian government has purchased six K-8 fighter jets from China, in the latest indication that the country is deepening its influence in Latin America. Milenio reports that the planes will be used to crack down on drug smuggling flights out of the country, and says that a number of pilots, instructors and technicians were trained in China in the maintenance of the aircraft.

·         Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman has an insightful interview with Annie Bird, co-director of Rights Action, in which she details leading Guatemalan presidential candidate General Otto Pérez Molina’s past involvement in human rights abuses in the country’s decades-long conflict. The interview also features archival footage of Pérez from the 1980s, in which he stands over the bodies of alleged “guerrillas” and defends the military’s brutal policies.  As Bird notes, his past leadership of the military’s operations in one of the most violent regions in Guatemala raises serious questions about his willingness to hold the army to human rights standards if elected.

Chile Rocked by Massive Student Protests

In Chile, thousands of students and education professionals throughout the country defied a government ban and took to the streets yesterday in order to call for a series of wide-ranging education reforms. Although the protests have been going on for more than two months now, fueled by widespread discontent with President Sebastian Piñera, the latest round of demonstrations appears to have taken the conflict to a new level.

As AFP and TeleSUR report, the government is attempting to delegitimize the student movement, stepping up its crackdowns on protestors.  Yesterday Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter issued a warning that his office would deny students permission to protest in downtown Santiago, saying: “The march will not be approved by our government due to the damage caused to property, bystanders and police. We will take all necessary measures to enforce the decision. It is time for the demonstrations to end,” Hinzpeter said. 

But the protests occurred anyway, resulting in harsh crackdowns in cities across Chile. According to AP, authorities detained more than 550 students yesterday, and at least 14 people were injured in clashes with riot police.

The students are demanding that the federal government dramatically increase education spending and resume control over public schools, which are attended by 90 percent of the country’s 3.5 million students, according to BBC Mundo. Control over education was handed over to the municipalities during the Pinochet dictatorship, which, along with the encouragement of private for-profit universities, was undertaken in an attempt to “streamline” the Chilean education system. As Chilean education expert Maria Olivia Monckeberg told the New York Times, this has produced an education system that is “chaotic and broken-down.” She added that with students and their families burdened by massive debt, educational “quality is totally debatable.”

La Jornada pointed out back in June that Chile spends only 4.4 percent of its gross national product (GNP) on education, while UNESCO recommends countries spend at least 7 percent.

In response to protestors’ demands, President Piñera has offered a 21-point reform package, and invited his critics to sit down with him in the presidential palace to resolve the conflict. The proposal offered an increase in funding, improvements to teacher training, as well as measures to ease the burden of student loans and increase access to university scholarships. However, so far opposition lawmakers have rejected the invitation, and students say that the offer falls far short of their demands. TeleSUR reports that the students are expected to respond to the proposed reforms later today, offering a counter plan of their own.

Meanwhile, a new survey conducted by Chilean polling firm CEP (Centro de Estudios Públicos) puts support for Piñera at only 26 percent, making him the least-liked president in Chile’s history. The poll also found widespread discontent with the political class in the country as a whole, with more than 45 percent of respondents expressing discontent with both Piñera’s conservative Alliance for Chile and the center-left Concert of Parties for Democracy. 

With Piñera less than halfway through his four-year term, and student protestors vowing to continue demonstrating, it seems fair to say that the country is facing a major political crisis. For Chile’s student movement, the challenge now will be to counter the governments’ efforts at casting them as unreasonable fringe elements. If they manage to maintain support among the Chilean population, their movement has potential to fundamentally alter the country’s unequal education system.

For more on the student protests, see El Ciudadano, which offers a play-by-play of yesterday’s protests in Santiago.  The Times article mentioned above also provides an interesting summary of the tactics used by protestors so far.

News Briefs

·         A legislative committee in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies passed a version of the controversial National Security Law on Tuesday, despite concerns by civil society groups in the country over provisions which make it easier for the executive to deploy the military. In response, CNN Mexico reports that the country’s peace movement –led by poet Javier Sicilia– canceled a dialogue with Mexican lawmakers scheduled for Thursday, claiming that the vote represented a betrayal. Leaders of the country’s major parties have defended the law’s preliminary approval, noting that it has not been fully passed, and that several reservations have been made in the bill due to human rights concerns. Sicilia has called for a massive protest on Sunday in Mexico’s Zocalo, where he is expected to call for a more “humane” alternative to the law.

·         AP reports that the entire police force of Ascension -- a town of about 13,000 people in northern Mexico -- have left their posts, after a series of attacks have killed five officers and a police chief over the past three months.

·         AFP interviews Guatemala’s likely future president, Gen Otto Perez, who claims that his success in opinion polls is due to widespread public disenchantment with the Guatemalan left. The news agency also conducted a separate interview with outgoing President Alvaro Colom, who says he is cracking down on drug cartels’ financial structures.

·         La Prensa has published the results of a recent CID-Gallup poll which indicates that the opposition in Nicaragua is gaining on President Daniel Ortega, with Fabio Gadea only seven points behind (41% to 34%).

·         The director of a Catholic NGO in Venezuela has challenged the Colombian government’s recent assertion that the FARC and ELN do not operate in his country, detailing to Caracol various incidents of kidnapping and extortion against poor farmers and ranchers alike.

·         Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim resigned last night, after Folha de Sao Paolo published comments in which he criticized Institutional Relations Minister Ideli Salvatti and cabinet chief Gleisi Hoffmann. As AP notes, Jobim is the third cabinet chief to resign since President Rousseff took office in January.

·         The Washington Post profiles the 33 Chilean miners who were rescued in a much-publicized event last year, noting that most of the men now live in poverty, despite their fame.

Colombian Military Leader Still Wary of Venezuela-FARC Connections

Admiral Edgar Cely, the commander of Colombia's military, has told Caracol that FARC and ELN guerrillas are still hiding out in Venezuela, using the country in order to lie low and organize attacks. The announcement represents an about-face for the Colombian government, as last April President Santos announced that Venezuela was free of FARC units, saying, "We are certain those encampments no longer exist."  He added that the government of Hugo Chavez has delivered on its promise to prevent the guerrilla group from crossing back and forth across the Colombia-Venezuela border. At the time, the comment was widely viewed as having been designed to further improve diplomatic ties with Chavez, which had been broken off for over a year until Santos took office.

According to Reuters, trade between the two countries is still at its lowest point in years, and Admiral Cely’s recent remarks could hamper future efforts at reconciliation. This is probably why Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera was so quick to contradict him. As Semana notes, Rivera dismissed Cely’s claim, stressing that Venezuelan authorities have beefed up border security in recent months to the point that “there are no border sanctuaries for these criminals to hide in."

Rivera also took great care to note that bilateral relations are “on the right track,” as Venezuelan security forces are cooperating with their Colombian counterparts to capture and depart guerrillas. As an example of this, he pointed to the recent arrest of FARC leader and protest singer Guillermo Torres, alias "Julian Conrado” in the neighboring country.

However, as mentioned in last Thursday’s brief, Conrado has requested political asylum in Venezuela, and a Venezuelan court has put Conrado’s extradition on hold while it evaluates the evidence against him. On top of this, AFP reported yesterday that the country has begun an investigation into the rebel’s health in order to see if he is fit for transport, which could potentially indicate an attempt to stall the extradition process.

News Briefs

·         Meanwhile, it seems that Colombia is facing criminal penetration of its own security forces. According to El Colombiano, the two bodyguards responsible for killing Rastrojos leader Ángel de Jesús Pacheco, alias "Sebastián," last month have informed authorities that their ex-boss paid military and police forces some $140,000 a month in order to guarantee his security.

·         Reuters says that Colombian officials have arrested two members of a drug trafficking ring responsible for sending 20 tons of cocaine annually to the United States via a semi-submersible self propelled submarine.

·         The New York Times highlights human rights abuses committed by the Mexican military in the country’s “drug war.” Despite a ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court that opens up military abuse cases to prosecution in civilian trials, impunity for the armed forces continues. The article notes that this is made worse by the fact that several high-ranking officers have announced they will refuse to operate without guarantees against prosecution, and have managed to sway several lawmakers of the necessity of such legal assurances.

·         Reuters reports that Mexican gangs have stepped up oil theft in the country, and have tapped Mexican pipelines to steal almost 70 percent of Pemex's first-quarter profit in the first four months of this year alone.

·         AP reports that Mexican police have detained the director of the Juarez prison where 17 people were killed last week, along with four prison guards. The police allegedly gave “privileges” to some of the inmates, which apparently included total freedom of access and the right to hold late night parties.

·         According to a separate AP story, Mexican police have also captured Moises Montero Alvarez, alias "El Koreano," who they say is responsible for the bizarre September killings of 20 vacationing men from Michoacan in Acapulco. What’s more, El Universal claims that Montero was a member of the state’s judicial police force.

·         Each of the four Guatemalan ex-army members facing charges for their role in the 1982 massacre at Dos Erres were found guilty yesterday, and the court has sentenced them each to more than 6,000 years in prison (30 years for each of the 200 victims), according to AP. However, Prensa Libre reports that Guatemalan law mandates a maximum sentence of 60 years. Still the verdict is only the second time that soldiers have been convicted for a massacre carried out in the country’s conflict.

·         The New York Times’ Damien Cave takes a look at the anticipation (and apprehension) in Cuba surrounding the government’s proposed reforms to property transfers in the country. Far from “planting the seeds of capitalism,” the reforms will require Cubans to own only one home or apartment and require full-time residency.  However, it appears that property sales will not need require prior government approval.

·         La Razon reports that Bolivian police have arrested four members of Peru's Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) in the El Alto region, who apparently possessed anti-Morales leaflets and were attempting to recruit insurgents.

·      After weeks of strikes by both students and workers have rocked Chile, Reuters cites a new poll which shows that support for Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has plummeted to 30 percent.  Mercopress reports that Piñera announced last Sunday that he is interested in meeting with student protestors, who are calling for constitutional reform which would guarantee state-funded education for youth.

Cuba Approves Economic and Travel Reforms

As noted in Monday's brief, the Cuban National Assembly held one of its hectic biannual meetings yesterday, and today’s headlines are full of reports that the legislative body has passed a number of wide-ranging reforms on the island. According to Granma, the Assembly endorsed and approved the Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Communist Party and the Revolution, which were outlined in last April’s Communist Party Congress.

As BBC News reports, these include increased freedoms for small businesses, a relaxation of Cuba’s ban on housing and automobile sales, and measures intended to reduce bureaucratic waste. Additionally, the Communist party is expected to adjust the country's controversial travel and emigration regulations. Although the nature of these migration reforms is still unclear, AP quotes President Raul Castro as saying that changes are necessary in light of recent changes to migration patterns.

According to him, the controls were needed in order to maintain security in the years following the revolution, but the fact that most Cubans who flee the island today do so for economic reasons means that the government must re-examine these policies. "We take this step as a contribution to increase the nation's ties to the community of emigrants, whose makeup has changed radically since the early decades of the revolution," Castro said. "The country is (now) on a path of modifying decisions that played a role in their time and endured unnecessarily."

AFP offers an interesting look at opposition to the proposed reforms, which is coming mostly from the orthodox elements of the Party. In a speech that was broadcast on state television yesterday, Castro lashed out at these critics, claiming that the “greatest obstacle” ahead of the reforms is the “psychological barrier formed by inertia, inaction, false claims or double standards and insensitivity."

Although Assembly meetings usually last up to three to four days, this session lasted just one day, coming to a close Monday evening. Another one is scheduled for later in the year, and given the slow nature of reform in Cuba, it is quite possible that analysts will have to wait until then for more specifics of the reforms to be announced.

News Briefs

·         Fifty years after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the CIA has released a series of secret files which detail the preparation process of the failed operation. The Miami Herald reports that the documents were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the National Security Archive’s Peter Kornbluh. The CIA files include a section of the official internal history of the invasion, entitled "Participation in the Conduct of Foreign Policy," which describes the agency’s efforts to negotiate support for from the governments of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Great Britain. This report has been split into two parts, and is available for download on the CIA website (Part 1 and Part 2)

·         Mexico’s National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social - CONEVAL) has released new poverty statistics for the country. According to El Universal, the report found that the number of people living below the poverty line in Mexico increased by 3.2 million between 2008 and 2010, and is now at 52 million. This figure amounts to more than 46 percent of the country's 112 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, the number of those living in extreme poverty (defined as earning less than 2,114 pesos in urban areas and 1,329 in the countryside) remained at 11.7 million over this time period. In addition to being extremely disheartening, this report directly contradicts optimistic accounts in the U.S. media which imply that increasing standards of living are cutting down on immigration, such as recent articles in the Sacramento Bee and New York Times. While CONEVAL notes that some states (notably Puebla, Coahuila and Morelos) have made inroads against poverty, Mexico does not possess a “middle class society” by any means.

·         The L.A. Times informs that 21 senior federal prosecutors in Mexico have resigned following a major purge by recently-appointed Attorney General Marisela Morales. Although the Mexican media reported last month that 462 prosecutors and other officials had been dismissed, Milenio calls the resignations “unprecedented.” Still, it is unclear whether the 21 officials stepped down in protest of Morales’ controversial efforts or whether they were asked to leave office.

·         Reuters reports that five Colombian oil workers who were kidnapped by the FARC last week in the department of Arauca have been freed. According to InSight Crime, such short term kidnappings are on the rise in the country, as pressure from military patrols rebels force the rebels to stay on the move.

·         The Atlantic’s Elizabeth Dickinson has written an interesting piece on the Colombian conflict, focusing on the disparity between official statistics and the actual security situation, which she refers to as a “War Without Corpses.”

·         Prensa Libre reports that Guatemala is preparing a new security plan to minimize the influence of drug trafficking organizations on the upcoming September elections. According to Interior Minister Carlos Menocal the country’s east, north and northwestern regions are those with the most risk, and have been most affected by political violence in the past few months.  

·         Meanwhile, Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz has announced that the country has arrested a third suspect linked to the murder of folk singer murder. According to the AP, police are still looking for two more Guatemalan suspects, in addition to a Costa Rican who is believed to have organized the killing.

·         According to El Comercio, some elements of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s Nationalist Party have said they would support an official pardon of the leader’s brother, who masterminded an armed coup in 2005. So far, it seems that such is unlikely, as it would represent a major break with Humala’s carefully groomed moderate image.

·         InSight Crime’s Hannah Stone takes a look at the challenges that Humala faces in combating the small but persistent Shining Path in Peru. As she mentions, analysts should view Humala’s links to coca growers as an opportunity to pursue “more realistic and sensitive policy towards coca growth,” rather than automatically dismissing them as an indication that he is “soft” on drug trafficking.

·         Reuters reports that Paraguayan President Lugo - who canceled plans to visit Peru for Humala’s inauguration because of health concerns – is merely suffering from the flu and not a resurgence of lymphatic cancer, as some media outlets reported. His doctors say that his body is so far free of malignant cancer cells.

·         Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has also taken measures to assure the press that his cancer treatment has been successful. As the Guardian notes, Chavez appeared on Venezuelan television yesterday sporting a shaved head, which he jocularly referred to as his “new look.” The president is expected to lose all of his hair is in the coming weeks as a result of chemotherapy, but insists that the process is working.

·         Bolivia’s Pagina Siete reports that a disagreement over the terms of U.S. aid is holding back an agreement that would normalize U.S.-Bolivia relations. President Evo Morales has said he wants more say in the design and function of U.S. development projects in his country, and has requested the U.S. to allow him to determine which organizations will carry them out.

Venezuela to Consider Releasing 40 Percent of Prisoners

According to Venezuela’s new prison minister, Iris Varela, 40 percent of the country’s 50,000 prison inmates should be released from jail. In an interview with El Nacional published yesterday, Varela told the Venezuelan publication that the major contributor to the country’s prison crisis is overcrowding, saying “For me, the achievement will not be to open prisons, but to close them.”

The minister, who was appointed by President Chavez last Tuesday, said that officials will begin work this week to expedite the release of up to 20,000 inmates who meet certain legal requirements and do not constitute a danger to society, but took care to assure Venezuelans that authorities will not let "wolves loose on the streets."

Some of Varela’s remarks are sure to raise the ire of Chavez’s critics, who have repeatedly expressed concerns about the state of judicial independence in the country. According to BBC Mundo, the newly-appointed minister offered a firm warning to judges opposed to her work: “If a judge gives me problems, I’ll tell the president of the TSJ (Supreme Justice Tribunal, in Spanish) to remove him from his position.”

The announcement comes just one month after more than 25 people were killed in deadly clashes at El Rodeo jail. Last year, 476 inmates were reportedly killed and another 967 were injured, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, an NGO which monitors prison conditions. From 1999 to 2010, a total of 4,506 inmates reportedly died and 12,518 were injured, a phenomenon which the group claims is linked to a lack of institutional capacity to deal with overflowing prisons in the country. The organization’s director, Humberto Prado, told AFP last month that the entire El Rodeo prison complex housed more than 3,600 inmates although it only has capacity to hold 750, which forced hundreds of inmates sleep on the floor, stairs and hallways.

While Varela’s concerns are valid, it should be noted that her strategy does not by any means represent an end to prison overcrowding.  Citing official figures, AFP notes that Venezuelan prisons are meant to hold only 14,000 inmates, which means that even if all of the proposed 20,000 are released, the prison system would still hold more than twice its intended population.

News Briefs

·         In light of a recent reevaluation of Venezuela’s oil reserves, which OPEC now says are the world’s largest, President Hugo Chavez has called on the organization to adjust its quotas in order to allow Venezuela to produce more oil. This comes just a few weeks after the country led a campaign with Iran to vote against increasing production at OPEC’s last meeting in June.

·   El Tiempo reports that ex-President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia has been hit with the hardest challenge to “Uribismo” yet. Last week Uribe's former agricultural minister was jailed while prosecutors investigate corruption charges against him, and on Saturday his chief of staff Bernardo Moreno was arrested for his alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of government opponents. Uribe himself is also being investigated by a Congressional commission over his role in the illegal wiretapping scandal, in which Supreme Court magistrates, journalists, human rights workers and opposition politicians were all illegally placed under surveillance. According to an Ipsos Napoleon Franco poll released Sunday, Uribe's approval rating dropped from 76% in November last year to 60% in July.

·   Meanwhile, it appears that these developments have taken a toll on Uribe’s popularity in Colombia. According to a Sunday Ipsos Napoleon Franco poll cited by Terra, Uribe's approval rating has fallen by 16 points, from 76 percent in November of last year to 60 percent.  The poll found that this shift in opinion has not taken a toll on President Santos, who after one year in office, is enjoying support from 71 percent of Colombians.

·         President Santos is in Mexico today, where he will sign several agreements meant improve anti-crime coordination between the two countries. According to El Tiempo, the treaties will allow for both countries to extradite nationals of each country to the other in order to stand trial. Under previous agreements, the two countries only extradited foreigners between the countries.

·         The New York Times reports that the leader of a drug gang who is believed to be responsible for killing three people linked to a United States consulate in Juarez last year has been captured. José Antonio Acosta Hernández, a former police officer known as El Diego, was arrested by Mexican police on Saturday, and has allegedly confessed to ordering 1,500 killings in Juarez.

·         The L.A. Times’ Tracy Wilkinson takes a look at Elba Esther Gordillo, who is head of Mexico’s largest teachers’ union and known as a political kingmaker in the country. Despite being accused of extorting a state social security agency, the candidates in the upcoming 2012 elections are flocking to gain her support.

·         The Washington Post editorial board published an op-ed in Saturday’s paper calling on Congressional Republicans to stop “clubbing” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) over the failed “Operation Fast and Furious” and start working with the administration on appointing a new director of the agency. The Post rightly points out that the operation was a response to – and not the cause of – the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico.

·         Guatemala’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by former first lady and presidential hopeful Sandra Torres to a ruling which declared her campaign unconstitutional. AFP has the latest on the decision, which Torres has vowed to appeal yet again to the Guatemalan Constitutional Court, which is her campaign’s last resort. As Reuters notes, even in the unlikely event that she were to win the appeal, poll numbers show her trailing retired general Otto Perez by nearly 30 points.  This is a worrisome development for human rights activists, who fear that Perez will take advantage of current President Colom’s attempt to repeal a law which limits military spending and introduce a greater military presence in the country.

·         InSight Crime has released an English translation of an anonymously written comprehensive analysis of organized crime in Guatemala. The report details the five major families which act as the main criminal powerbrokers in the country, and offers an in-depth look at the dynamics of criminal activity in the lawless Peten region.

·         Latin America News Dispatch reports that Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is now on Twitter. His account,  @MashiRafael, means “Comrade Rafael” in the indigenous language of Quechua.

·         Black history scholar Henry Louis Gates has recently published a new book on black identity in Latin America, called “Black in Latin America.” An NPR podcast presents a taste of the work, which explores the cultural history and the impact of slavery in Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico and Peru. Gates has also put together a four-part PBS documentary on the subject, which is available here.

·         In the latest blow to her political agenda, AP reports that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez’s favored candidate in Buenos Aires’ mayoral election was clobbered by his conservative opponent, current Mayor Mauricio Macri.

·         The Miami Herald informs that the Cuban parliament will convene today for a three day meeting in which it wil discuss pending economic reforms, and it seems the legislative body is poised to pass a law which would ease restrictions on home sales. With the announcement, Cubans are scrambling to fix their homes and gather housing titles in anticipation of selling them.

·         And finally, if you’ve ever wanted to get back into shape with everyone’s favorite Bolivarian leader, here’s your chance: the Venezuelan government has released footage of President Hugo Chavez leading a workout session with leaders of his cabinet. A clip of the video released by Reuters features fast-paced music and speedy graphics, all accompanied by enthusiastic commentary from Chavez lecturing about the benefits of regular exercise.